Monthly Archives: July 2012

Today was the most labor intensive day of my raised bed project. I had to break into rock hard earth today! Due to the worst drought in over 50 years, the dirt I'm placing the beds on is dessicated and compacted. I tried a shovel first, to break into the ground, and was only able to edge the beds with help from my (much bigger) little brother. Today I placed all the lumber, and had to break into that ground before I could hope to set the frames. I tried with a shovel and an edger, and finally Read more [...]

One of the coolest, most coveted garden elements is a water feature. A pond or fountain is a sure way to set your yard or patio apart from others, and provide a soothing environment to relax in. The way I see it, having a small body of water in your yard is probably the coolest thing you can possibly do, next to growing your own food.

I'm so excited to get down in the dirt and get some good old fashioned gardening done! I wasn't able to plant my usual garden this Spring. I've been out of state for a few months, in a rural area with almost unlimited space. The "front yard" is a six acre field, and there's plenty of other space to plant just about anything. I'm so excited to say that I'm starting a raised bed garden! I have enough supplies to get the first phase of the project done, but I'll have to go get more soon. I took Read more [...]

I bought my Zanzibar Gem a couple of months ago (as I killed all my airplants and cacti) and I'm thinking it might be time to water it. I am stumped. How do I water it? Do I give it a misty spray of water, enough to wet the top of the dirt? Enough water that it comes out of the pot?

It is only a small ZZ with two stalks in a small plastic pot. It's Winter here and it lives indoors on my window sill in a heated room. I don't want to kill this one!

I got a few good shots of this plant at a friend's house, and now I've got the itch to get one of my own! Since I'm spending my Summer traveling, I've been getting good shots of many house and patio plants that I've never seen before. There are a few staple plants that most indoor gardeners are familiar with, for example, pothos, dreacana, spider plants, etc...